NEW YORK — The Celtics had a unique opportunity this season, bringing back virtually the same roster that won the 2024 NBA championship. Despite entering the postseason as heavy East favorites, the team went down without much of a fight in Game 6, falling 119-81 in what end up being a franchise-record win for the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
The drubbing came as a bit of a stunner after an inspired Game 5 win for Boston in the wake of Jayson Tatum’s torn Achilles. Boston stayed competitive for the first quarter before a downward spiral hit. The visitors surrendered a 48-21 run heading into halftime and never even put up a fight in the second half as the Knicks lead ballooned as high as 41 points.
Postgame, the team reflected on what this group had been able to achieve together as the harsh reality hit that this will be the last time they will be together.
“It sucks,” Derrick White said. “You’ll never get this season back. You’re never going to have the exact same team again. So obviously there were some highs and obviously some lows of the season, but at the moment it’s just kinda down.”
White said the quiet part aloud about what has been looming for this group for quite some time. The luxury that Brad Stevens had of bringing this group back is no longer a possibility and not just because of Jayson Tatum’s injury or a second-round exit. Boston’s financial commitments for next year’s roster are currently projected to cost north of $500 million and that’s not a realistic spend for this group.
The financial crunch means multiple rotation players are likely going to be on the move and led to plenty of reflection in the moment.
“I just love playing with the guys that we have in that locker room,” White said after Game 6. “Just a great group of guys that compete at a high level. Off the court we just had a lot of fun. And I think that’s just what I’ll probably the most proud of, is just being able to say that I put on a Boston Celtics uniform with some amazing group of people, you can go down a list of every person who has been on the Celtics since I’ve been here. That’s probably what I’m most proud of.”
White is likely one of the safer players on the roster this offseason due to his age and terrific value contract. He declined to speculate on the potential changes ahead Friday night.
“I just gotta focus on what I need to focus on, which is obviously I have a lot of room for improvement,” White said. “So I gotta get better. People are going to do their jobs and my job right now is to get better.”
Despite the final result in Game 6, Joe Mazzulla indicated that this group should hold their head up high after their two years together.
“I told the guys in the locker room, one of the honors of my life was to be able to coach this group of guys,” Mazzulla said. “So you go down the list, every one of these guys is a champion, a warrior, and they’ve done a lot of great things in this league, and it’s an honor to be able to share the locker room with them, and be next to them on the court and be in the arena with them.
“They came in, we had a legit shot at it, and they gave everything they had to try to go, but we ran into a better team.”